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Men abduct and beat 12-year-old girl, but they have no idea 3 lions are watching her back

A 12-year-old Ethiopian girl was abducted by several men while she was on her way to school. She had been reported missing for over a week as they beat her and tried forcing her to marry one of them.

Unfortunately, kidnapping is a common practice in Ethiopia. It is considered to be a marriage custom in that is practiced in rural areas where most of the country’s 71 million people reside. The United Nations estimates that more than 70 percent of marriages in Ethiopia are caused by abduction.

She thought her life was over, but a group of three lions decided to intervene…

“They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest,” Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo told the Associated Press.

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“If the lions had not come to rescue her, then it could have been much worse,” he said. “Often these young girls are raped and severely beatn to force them to accept the marriage.”

“Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle because normally the lions would attack people,” Wedajo said.

“A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they didn’t eat her,” wildlife expert Stuart Williams, who is with the rural development ministry, told NBC News.

Authorities say that the girl was given medical treatment for the cuts she received during her abduction which left her “shocked and terrified.”